Diagnostic tools

Several readers have commented on the notion of “normal” Soay sheep temperature mentioned in the recent post about using temperature to diagnose problems in Soay sheep, specifically, whether there is any difference for Soay sheep because of their small size. As all Soay breeders know, a lot of lore about the bigger varieties of sheep […]

There is no more reliable way to start diagnosing a failing lamb, a sick Soay of any age, or shock from injury, than to take the animal’s temperature. Almost without fail, if the temperature is normal, any listlessness, limping or other indication of a problem will be structural (e.g., rock in foot, temporary diarrhea caused […]